Ben Zeller and The "Heaven's Gate" UFO Cult Suicides... Questions?

[Christopher O'Brien]

Do you remember the "Heaven's Gate" UFO cult that committed mass-suicide in 1997 as a way to ascend to the Hale-Bop comet's companion craft? So does this week's guest, Benjamin Zeller. His new book Heaven's Gate: America's UFO Religion, examines Marshall Applewhite ("Bo") and his group of doomed believers and the emergence of new religion in the 21st Century. His book is an insightful, sobering examination into a darker side of UFO belief, and Ben will be this week's guest on the Paracast.

Benjamin E. Zeller is a researcher and teacher of religion in America. He focuses on religious currents that are new or alternative, including new religions, the religious engagement with science, and the quasi-religious relationship people have with food. Zeller serves as Assistant Professor of Religion at Lake Forest College, a private liberal arts college in suburban Chicago.

"Despite the extensive media coverage of the Heaven’s Gate suicides in 1997, no single-authored academic book has yet been written about this group. This volume thus fills an important gap. This is an extremely valuable book, which should be of interest not merely in academic circles, but more widely. Anyone who has an interest in new religions and wonders how a charismatic leader can persuade 39 people to commit collective suicide will find it a highly readable account of Marshall Herff Applewhite and his followers."
-George Chryssides, University of Birmingham

Please post your QUESTIONS here. We will be taping this Tuesday morning at 10 am (MT)

 

[Charlie Prime]

What is Dr. Zeller's opinion of the thesis that Christianity was designed by the Roman historian Josephus as a Flavian weaponized anthropology project to subvert rebellions in Judea?

What is Dr. Zeller's opinion of the thesis that the similarity in ancient creation myths around the world indicate off-world intervention in human development?

 

[Wade]

tbh, I never paid a lot of attention to this case so I'd be interested in hearing about the "progression" of this cult over the years (if there was one) As an example The People's Temple seemed harmless enough when it started out in the mid 50s, by harmless I mean there was no threat to one's safety only their wallets as Jones came across as a huckster, not a maniac.

 

[Burnt State]

1) What responsibility, if any, do you feel those who define themselves as ufologists should be taken for not speaking out against Heaven's Gate? How should similar UFO cults be treated in general by the communities and cultures who believe in UFO's as a real phenomenon?

2) What are your thoughts about those in the UFO community who promoted the notion that there appeared to be another object inside the tail of the comet prior to the mass suicide, in their attempts to validate UFO reality?

3) Whether it's Bo & Peep, or the contactees of the 50's and 60's, there is a long standing history of the UFO and its occupants representing some kind of transcendence for humanity. Why do you think this phenomenon lends itself so well to such human desires?

 

[JeanLucPicard]

1) What is your opinion on Scientology?

2) Can you tell us about any dangerous UFO cult still running?

3) We love you Chris!

 

[SheaOlmsford]

1. What draws people to have a credulous belief in a couple like Bo and Peep, who first appeared in the 70's looking like your average Caucasian couple, except for their unsupported claims of alien origin? In other words, what is the psychology of the basic "believer"?

2. What role did sexuality play in the Heaven's Gate cult? I understand that the men in the group, along with Applewhite, underwent voluntary castration? Was chastity part of their alien myth?

 

[DaveM]

Does Dr. Zeller believe that highly intelligent people are often the most gullible when it comes to something like alien ufos coming to save the Heaven's Gate members from impending doom.